Bayliss 'embarrassed' by Aussie scandal

England coach Trevor Bayliss has weighed in on Australia's ball-tampering scandal, labelling Steve Smith's actions in the third Test against South Africa as "a terrible mistake".

Bayliss, who oversaw England's four-nil humiliation to the Australians in the summer's Ashes, has coached Smith at the Sydney Sixers and was New South Wales coach as the unorthodox right-hander was a rising talent in the Blues stable.

But after Smith was fined 100 per cent of his match fee and suspended for one Test by the ICC for his role in the ball-tampering fiasco in Cape Town, which the governing body deemed as constituting "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game", the England mentor said he was "embarrassed" by the controversy.

"I'm obviously disappointed, and as an Australian I'm embarrassed," Bayliss said. "Steve is a lovely young bloke who has made a terrible mistake, and I'm sure Cricket Australia (CA) will work out the course of action required.

"They obviously will be punished, but I've no idea how severe, we'll have to see what Cricket Australia come up with."

Bayliss is not the first from England's Test squad – who are currently in New Zealand – to discuss the controversy, with paceman Stuart Broad questioning why Australia would have resorted to ball tampering at Newlands after they had enjoyed success with reverse swing in recent times without breaking the rules.

"I saw Steve Smith say it was the first time they have tried it (used tape to tamper with the ball)," Broad said in Auckland.

"To me, it's surprising - why they would change a method that's been working?

"If you look at the Ashes series we've just played, they reverse swung the ball in nearly all of those Test matches, sometimes in conditions where you wouldn't expect the ball to reverse.

"I don't understand why they have changed their method for this one game."

England captain Root played a straight bat when asked about tampering suspicions during the Ashes.

"Not to my knowledge," he said. "I personally wasn't aware of anything going on throughout that series."

Bayliss also said he had no recriminations – or suspicions – about the Ashes series in light of the ball-tampering drama in South Africa.

"No, I thought we were outplayed by a much better team," he said. "I've got no complaints."

Selected players and support staff of Australia's Test squad were interviewed on Monday in Cape Town as CA's internal investigation began.

CA Head of Integrity Iain Roy has been tasked with carrying out the investigation and conducted interviews at the team hotel, which saw news crews and photographers huddled outside the main entrance for most of the day.

Prior to the interviews beginning, Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) chief executive Alister Nicholson, flanked by two ACA lawyers, spoke to the playing group.

The Australia squad today took the 11:15am South African Airways flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg to begin preparations for the fourth Test, which starts on Friday at The Wanderers.

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers.

Australia squad: Steve Smith, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test South Africa won by six wickets. Scorecard

Third Test South Africa won by 322 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage